Harvey

Not via youtube, but every once in a while, I'll log in here to check out life on Soi Buakhao. Link: http://thai-rest.com/soi-buakhao-pattaya-webcam-the-queens-arms-bar/ Harv

I should add that the front desk girls were very helpful, happy, and flirty.

Hey Parry -- I wandered past your potential hotel this afternoon about 3 p.m. First off, here are photos of their business card (front and back) The place is a lot bigger than the photo on hotels.com seemed to indicate. There are three equal-sized buildings in the hotel complex. I don't now how crowded it is, but if the pool at 3 p.m. is any indication, not too many folks were hanging around. I'm not sure if this is a place for Chinese tourists or not, but there was a big tour bus sitting idle in front of the buildings. And the front parking area l

I didn't want to get other readers confused about what I meant. Figured that using the latin "futbol" would be clearer. Bottom line: We suck

The USA is a nation of about 250M people. But we can't find among us 11 who can play futbol with any sense of skill. We lost a berth in the World Cup finals from the always difficult CONCACAF section (/sarcasm) because we lost at the world power Trinadad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago. I guess if we only had had to take on Tobago alone, we may have had a shot. But add Trinidad? Game over. Honestly, this is a total embarrassment.

It's 6 p.m. Pattaya time as I type this. If nobody sings out on this thread, I'll try and swing by tomorrow or the next day to get a business card and post a photo of both sides of it. Harv

We were out in the hotel from 9:30 - 2:30. Not too bad. Spend most of the time in bed with my girl. Didn't wake up until 2 because of heavy drinking last night.

I'm at the Hotel Baraquda, next door the The Avenue. The maid just walked into my room as I was showering to drop a note on the desk (actually, she walked in, saw me showering, screamed, and threw the note toward the desk and ran out apologizing profusely). Anyway, the hotel GM's note says that due to scheduled work by the Provincial Electricity Authority on Buakhao Soi 15 (which runs behind The Avenue and the Baraquda), there will be no power tomorrow between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. They're apparently going to be working on underground cables. It was 6:30 p.m. the night before the power

I've been trapped here at the Royal Garden Plaza top floor, on the covered balcony at Starbucks, nursing a coffee and watching it pour down buckets. Hasn't stopped for the last 25 minutes. I guess it comes with visiting during the rainy season. But this is some rain maker right here. (5 p.m. Pattaya time)

I don't want to create a whole new thread for a single post, so I'll add this here. ------ Seeking for an easy afternoon meal, I walked next door from my hotel to The Avenue for some quick Italian at Pizza Pizza. Despite the restaurant's name, I eschewed the pizza for a meal of some bruschetta and spaghetti alla carbonara. And it was good. The bruschetta did not skimp on garlic and olive oil. This is a good thing as in too many restaurants, bruschetta is merely a collection of diced tomatoes on top of toasted bread with no other ingredients or flavorings. The bruschetta here ha

So I was wandering up Soi Lengkee on my way up to to New York Pizza. But happened past the Smokin' Joe's sign and suddenly got the hankering for some BBQ ribs. It was about 2:30 and I try to eat my dinner about mid-afternoon b/c I don't like to eat big at night. And wow, am I happy that I dropped by the place. Before I start, I must admit that I judge falang food in Thailand on a curve. I have zero expectations that it'll taste like (or be better than) food at home. That is no disrespect to the Thai cooks, it's just that they have no lifelong experience on how individual dishes should

Whoa -- another huge crack of thunder. It's raining buckets right now (at the Baraquda -- near Royal Garden Plaza mall.)

Evil, can you please post a review of the pizza hoagie when you've tried it. Not a fan of tuna, but perhaps a pizza hoagie may be worth trying.

I didn't want to create an entirely new thread just for one random thought. So I searched "storm" and will try and put it here. ------------- Wow -- that was some thunderstorm last night. I'm in the Baraquda and the thunder shook the place. (In an odd-bit of timing, my girl and I were just starting to boom-boom as the weather did too). I'm up early having dutifully ushered my girl out the door and am searching for a live stream of the USA/Panama WC qualifying match which begins soon (yeah, we Americans are an embarrassment to soccer, but you have to be loyal). As I type these

OP, I would second this. I enjoy the festivities. Everyone (okay, not the punters but your fave girl) gets all dressed up and it becomes a really nice time. Think mid-late November....somewhat cooler weather. The (western) New Year crowds aren't in town yet. Hope you enjoy your trip.

Green upvote! I love chili over a baked potato. Couple that with a cold beer and a good football game. THAT is living.

MGDN -- Chili is made in so many different ways. It's difficult to declare a universally right or wrong way to make it. I like it without beans -- but on the side. Made not with ground beef but small cubes of steak. And hot and spicy as possible.

Thanks Evil -- The wait staff (especially the guys) have always seemed like they're just standing around like they were potted plants and good for nothing. I've been there where I'm the only guy in the place. The wait staff outnumber me by like 8:1. And nobody will move to give me a menu or take my order. If it weren't for the great roast duck and the pigs feet, I'd boycott the place. And I surely understand why you'd boycott the place if they wouldn't keep order and let some drunk harass your guest for the night. I'm in town in a couple of weeks, so if you don't have a chanc

Evil: Like you, I eat at KISS at the urging of my companion for the night. I like it for its hours -- nothing like a middle of the night Thai meail to try and wear off the drunkedness. It's also close to the LK Renaissance (now called the LK Residence). I've come to enjoy a bowl of Tom Yum Goong and some pork with chili and basil over rice. Remember that one place that never closed when you were in high school and college -- your go-to place where you'd eat off off your incoming hangover. It may have been IHOP or Denny's. For my friends, it was a 24-hour Chinese restaurant.

^ Sin taxes seem universal. I'm glad I don't smoke cigarettes here in the states. It feels like taxes on them are more than the actual cost of the good. That being said, consumers still drink and smoke, etc. The thing I just don't understand is how the government can keep the taxation rates secret. Don't restaurant and bar owner have to program their POS (point of sale) systems ahead of the effective date? Ditto stores, markets, etc. How can the government expect the tax increase put into effect in any organized manner? Doesn't this just screw up businesses?

Evil --( or anyone else in town). Has anyone been to Leng Kee lately? Dropping by in a few and I have a weakness for their roast duck (at least the roast duck I remember). Also, if anyone's been there recently, pig feet still good?

Good luck Patna....will be by in a couple of weeks to buy a few rounds.

::laughing::

Thanks a lot, Gus! Really appreciate it.